We've written before about the problem of scams in the Japanese "dating site" industry, where customers think they are interacting with real women who want to meet them but are actually exchanging messages with someone (perhaps even a man) who is trying to ensure they keep paying the membership fees for as long as possible.
In a recent article on Japan Today, someone apparently interviewed two such scammers.
The first is actually just someone who worked as a cheap hostess bar. We don't think this qualifies, since though it is possible for a customer to take a hostess out on a date, it's not ...
Many moons ago, we had the misfortune to live in a "gaijin house" -- one of those sordid guest houses that cater specifically to foreign residents of Tokyo. It wasn't as bad as some of the horror stories we have heard about such places, but the walls were decidedly thin.
One weekend morning, we woke to hear sounds from across the hall (through at least two doors/walls). Our young American neighbor was clearly balls deep in his Sunday breakfast. We could hear his partner (at least, the one he had snagged that week, since he always had several on the go) groaning how "kimochi ii" (good) it ...
Somewhat strangely and belatedly, this has become a controversial topic this month.
The popular porn star Eimi Fukada had to backtrack with an apology after she attracted opprobrium for asserting that men should pay for women on dates, since the latter investing a lot of time and money into preparing for the date.
And then former AKB48 idol Mai Oshima weighed in, saying during a livestream on her YouTube channel that she wouldn't go to a party or dinner where the guys weren't paying.
Japanese dating app Omiai conducted a poll in August 2022 of 217 men and 247 women -- all of whom have a ...
The immensely popular Japanese porn star Eimi Fukada landed herself in hot water this week by complaining on social media that men should pay for dates with girls.
Fukada, who last year held a 24-hour "free hugs" event for fans, reasoned that women already have various expenses that men don't, such as hair styling, makeup, and clothing costs, not to mention the time the women spend getting ready for their date.
She said men should pay the "date charges" -- presumably meaning paying for all the costs of the date (meal, drinks, movie theater tickets, etc.), not an actual "fee" paid to the ...
The former HKT48 idol Haruka Kodama recently appeared on a TV variety show where guests were asked to give their insights on how a couple can improve their relationship.
She gave one suggestion that shocked (or delighted) fans: she said that couples should watch porn together.
On the ABEMA show on February 7, where couples get advice directly from guests in the studio, a female comedian called Renachiru complained that her sex life with her boyfriend (a former host) had declined. She suspects she might be to blame, because she admits imposing a lot of rules on her lover, including blanket ...
The actor Issei Ishida has claimed to dated a total of a thousand woman. He made the extraordinary, surely grossly exaggerated statement on a NTV show on January 29. Of that massive number, our middle-aged Japanese Casanova said that 60 were "celebrities."
Pressed further as to which of those are women that anyone on the street would have heard of, he claimed seven.
His Instagram is full of pictures with women.
In December 2021, Ishida announced he had got divorced for the third time (from a woman over 20 years his junior).
In November last year, he claimed that he then had six ...
How can you get the edge on competitors in the real estate market? What's a sure-fire way to win male customers?
Welcome to Girls Chintai (literally, "girls rental").
It sounds like an escort service or one of those Japanese rent-a-girlfriend services that the overseas media loves to write about, but it's actually a service offered by an estate agency to attract male clients.
Staffed entirely by young, fashionable women, Girls Chintai creates a "date-like atmosphere" while taking you on visits to potential homes, so you can pretend you have a hot girlfriend and imagine what it would be ...
Gotta catch them all!
Well, there are so many Pokémon that that aspiration is surely impossible. But it seems you can catch the important ones.
Satoshi not only caught Pikachu, but was spotted giving Pikachu a good kiss.
Namely, a guy dressed as Satoshi (Ash Ketchum in the West) was recently seen kissing a lady friend dressed as Pikachu in a backstreet of Shibuya.
The young couple, presumably at the end of a successful date, were surreptitiously filmed in an alleyway exploring each other's faces. The four-second video subsequently uploaded to Twitter on October 24 has gone viral. The ...
Dating websites and apps were big before but are even bigger now, no doubt influenced by the pandemic that made it harder to do the usual things like go to nightclubs, konpa group dates, or even your school campus to hook up with someone.
There are many such apps on the Japanese market: Tapple, with, Dine, Pairs, Omiai, and more.
We're not sure if it's the local market leader based on current user numbers, but Tinder must be the most famous because of its overseas prevalence and the money it spends on advertising (even recruiting Kiko Mizuhara to front its campaign).
Its just gave a big ...
The latest survey about sex and romance in Japan to grab the headlines claims that 40% of single men in their twenties have never been on a date.
The results of the government survey also suggest that this problem isn't just men either. About 25% of young single women too also said they had never had a date with another person.
The numbers get a bit complicated, because 5% of married men and women in their twenties also said they had never been on a date, though this may mean they met their partner through a spouse introduction service and don't count their pre-marital meetings as "dates." ...
